Children’s Sermon

Matthew 5:38-48

Don’t Follow Along

Matthew 5:38-48Don’t Follow Along

By Lois Parker Edstrom

Object suggested: Dominoes

Have you ever played a game of dominoes? As you can see, dominoes are small tiles that have black spots on them. Dominoes firstcame from China hundreds and hundreds of years ago, but now people all over the world use dominoes to play many different kinds of games. The most common is a game in which you take turns, trying to match up the number of black dots on the dominoes. The person who matches up all their dominoes first is the winner.

Sometimes it is fun to set the dominoes on end to make a long row. When you push the first one over the dominoes continue to topple until all of them have fallen down. (Demonstrate how this works.)

We can use this demonstration to help us understand the meaning of a rather difficult Bible verse. Jesus says, “Love your enemies, …and pray for those who mistreat you.”

It is hard to think that we could feel love for someone who hashurt us. This does not mean we overlook what has been done that is hurtful. There are consequences for the hurtful choices people make.

Jesus teaches we should not follow along and do somethinghurtful to get back at the person who has hurt us. We are not to be like dominoes; when one is toppled over, the others follow along, all falling down. Hurtful actions should not be passed along from one person to another.

We can stand on our own; be true to ourselves, make our own good choices, using God’s love to guide us.